


I Don't Dream At All.

by captainbrans0n



Category: Alien Series, Alien: Covenant, Prometheus (2012)
Genre: Androids, Attempted Sexual Assault, F/M, Human-Android Friendship, Human-Android Romantical Feelings, Human-Android Sexy Times, Introspection, Male-Female Friendship, Novelization-Film hybrid, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Philosophy, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-11-13 10:55:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11183646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainbrans0n/pseuds/captainbrans0n
Summary: "When you close your eyes, do you dream of me?"What happens in the wake of chaos? Who picks up the pieces left behind the storm if not yourself?A story about trauma, grief and androids.*ON HIATUS*





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This first chapter could be read as a stand alone fic, but is part of a multi chapter story.  
> I may have gotten some of the details/lines wrong. Mea culpa.  
> David's assault on Daniels plays a big part of the emotional journeys of key characters. tw for sexual assault.  
> Anyway, my addition to the Walter x Daniels collection! I Hope you enjoy!

* * *

_“Is that how it’s done?” his voice is devoid of any warmth, colored by malice and sickening curiosity. His body pressed down onto hers as he whispered the words too softly, too gently to her face._

_Daniels strained against him, not wanting what was being forced onto her at all, but knowing it was fruitless. David was much too strong. The harsh power in his limbs pressing into her–_

“Daniels.”

_–feels trapped. pounding against the glass, looking into the green eyes of her captor. The hiss of the glass door sealing shut–_

“NO!”  
  
_She should have seen it. It’s the eyes. Walter’s were always more blue, and they were kind._

_Daniels begins feeling claustrophobic immediately, struggling against the oncoming sluggishness of the pharmaceuticals in the stasis pod. David’s depraved smiling face looming above her. Promising nothing but anguish._

“Daniels.”

_“Look out!” She is pushed to the ground as Walter jumps in front of her blocking the oncoming attack. Daniels’ heart is beating too fast. Her breath coming in ragged shallow bursts._

Hands are touching her face.

_David’s hands. She can’t breath. She can’t move. She lashes out and catches something in her hand, but suddenly she’s back on that slab of rock, beneath David, struggling to move away from his mouth as he takes from her what he wants._

“Captain Branson, open your eyes.”

_This scene is unfamiliar. She catches a glimpse of the creature–pale. white. splayed open on the table of a cold, stony room. Its skin stretched, pinned to the table, entrails spilling out. But, she can still hear a beating heart. A pained and desperate breath coming from that direction._

_Daniels finds herself moving closer to the table. The ragged breaths louder than ever. Her throat and chest aching, but not understanding why._

“Walter. What’s going on here?”

Tennessee is at the mouth of Daniels’ tent peering in, flashlight in hand and worry evident on his face.

Walter has the fingers of his right hand on Daniels’ wrist. “Her heart rate is currently 170.”

“Jesus Christ.” Tennessee steps fully into the tent, placing his flashlight down and kneeling next to Walter. “What, I mean…what can we do? Should we wake her up?”

“I have been trying to gently coax her awake, but my attempts appear futile.” He motions to his left arm, showing Tennessee just how tightly she is gripping his new hand. Her nails biting into his synthetic flesh hard enough to break it. “I have turned off the nerve receptors in that hand for now.”

The Covenant had a small stock of android parts for repairs Walter would have needed to make to himself during the voyage to Origae-6. With Daniels’ mechanical help, Walter was able to replace his missing hand. Tennessee didn’t know shit about mechanics, but watching Daniels and Walter interact was one of his favorite pastimes.

_Approaching the stone table, the shape of the creature morphs before Daniels’ eyes. Her heart stops and she feels her blood run cold._

“I am detecting heart palpitations.” Walter’s focus moves back to Dani’s face immediately. “Her nightmares have yet to be this severe. I was hoping that this would pass without interference, as it is unwise to suddenly wake someone from a nightmare. However, it seems the more time spent asleep, the deeper she is delving into whatever trauma this nightmare is making her relive.” Walter reaches out with his free hand to firmly grip Daniels’ shoulder, leans his face closer to hers and says her name loudly and forcefully.

Tennessee doesn’t have much time to process this information as a heart-stopping scream erupts from Daniels in front of them and she sits bolt upright. Eyes open, red from tears, and wild, they erratically move around the tent.

Daniels still feels trapped. Her right hand feels crushed. Immobilized. She remembers pounding on the glass of her stasis pod looking into the face of the Devil. Everything feels and sounds chaotic. The voices around her a mad jumble.

“Dani. Jesus shit, are you alright?” at the same time, “Daniels please focus on your breathing.”

The hand on her shoulder a confining pressure, her right hand trapped in something, all the muscles in her body are taut and her breathing is rapidly getting worse.

She needs out. 

“Daniels, I need to you focus on the sound of my voice.” Dani’s eyes snap to Walter. There must have been something in her eyes that told Walter that even though she was looking at him, she wasn’t seeing him, because at that moment, Tennessee could see Walter very quickly adjust his stance to face Daniels fully as her eyes went even more wild and she lunged toward him, her left hand grabbing at his neck and jaw and her right hand digging even deeper into his new hand, twisting and gouging out his flesh. Walter let her weight knock him over. His right hand having slid down to her left, holding it in place at his neck.

“Let go of me!” Dani screamed into Walter’s face. “You monster!” She tried to rear her left hand back to attack, but found it trapped in place by his. She snarled and twisted Walter’s left hand back to an unnatural angle.

Tennessee hearing a mechanical pop in the android’s wrist, sprung to action. He reaches toward Dani, only to be stopped in his tracks when Walter fixes his eyes on him. Walter’s message, though unspoken, is loud and clear, _Please do not interfere yet, for your own safety_.

“Daniels,” Walter’s right thumb begins gently stroking Daniels’ hand at his neck. “I am Walter. You were dreaming. David has been decommissioned and you are safe.”

“Fuck you!” Daniels’ spat back into his face. How dare he. How dare he take everything from them, from her. How dare he masquerade around with Walter’s face. Kind Walter. Her tears of grief and rage flow down her face. She follows a drop that lands in the corner of David’s eye

 _David’s…blue eye._ She falters.

The image in front of Daniels’ eyes begins to rapidly shift–the android pinned below her changing from cruel to innocent and back again. Her breath stops and her vision begins to blacken around the edges as her muscles begin to shake.

Feeling her strength waning, she is no longer clawing at his neck with her left hand, though her right still has his left in a death lock. _That’s alright_ , Walter thinks to himself, as he slowly moves his hand from hers around his neck, to slide up to her elbow and brace it there so she won’t fall over.

There’s a long tense pause in the tent, where all that can be heard is harsh breathing, and then…

“..Walter?” It comes out heartbreakingly unsure.

Tennessee is familiar with nightmares. He’s had his share since they’ve touched down on Origae-6. He understands what PTSD can do to a person better than anyone, and if they were back on Earth, between him and Daniels, they’d be any psychoanalyst’s wet dream.

Tennessee shifts forward cautiously, hands raised in front of him, “Hey, Dani…” Daniels lifts her face away from the pinned android and looks in Tennessee’s direction. “We only found one spare hand part for Walter on the Covenant,” nodding his head down to where her right hand has mangled Walter’s left. “Now, I know how long it took y’all to put that hand on him, I would hate to see that good work get fucked up so fast.”

Daniels looked quickly down to where her hand was clenched tightly around the hand of the android beneath her. Her fingers coated in the synthetic’s white blood and sees it dripping to the ground, the wrist at an extreme angle, with some carbon-fiber poking out where bones would be if who was beneath her was human. The back of the hand has deep gouge marks on it and she can feel the colloid material under her fingernails, three of the fingers on the hand appear broken.

Her breath leaving her body in irregular pants, she continues to stare at her hand grotesquely entwined with his.

Walter, attentive as always, notices a shift in Daniels’ demeanor.

 _She seems to be coming around to herself_ , he thinks, “I have lost this hand before for you. I am unafraid to lose it again, if I must.” is all he says, looking up into her face from his supine position underneath her.

Her eyes move to his again. “Walter.” this time certain. _There she is._

All of a sudden the fight drains out of her and she heaves a couple broken sobs. The proverbial floodgates now open, Daniels removes her hand from around Walter’s neck and tries to disentangle her hand from his. It’s hard though, she can barely see through her tears and her hand muscles are clenched so tightly it feels as though they are stuck that way.

She is sobbing uncontrollably, the muscles in her whole body spasming with each convulsive gasp. Daniels’ is trying to speak past her tears but all Tennessee and Walter can make out is variations of, “I’m so sorry,” and “Fuck, I am so sorry.” sometimes interspersed with Walter’s name.

Daniels moves back, though not completely off of Walter, giving him room to sit up. His right arm moving from her elbow to her waist. His hand coming up to rest against her ribcage.

“Daniels. I need you to breathe in on four and out on eight.” Walter begins counting, his hand at her waist giving her something to focus on to regulate her breathing. “Good. 1…2…3…4…” Daniels pulls in a shakey breath and releases it on his count of eight. Tennessee having moved forward works on dislodging her hand from Walter’s, wiping both their hands down as best he can, and despite his inexperience begins inspecting the structural damage to Walter’s hand.

 _Fuck Weyland-Yutani. Fuck the Company._ is all Tennessee can think at the moment as Walter works to calm Daniels down. She is all but cradled in the android’s lap, her face now buried at his neck. The same spot she had been gripping him by earlier.

Tennessee looks up and makes eye-contact with Walter. _We’ll be fine, thank you for your assistance,_ is written all over Walter’s face. Another silent message Tennessee picks up on easily.

He gives a nod to his robot-pal and quietly leaves them, trusting Walter to deal with the aftermath. Stopping in front of his own tent, not too far away from theirs, he looks up at the sky–the foreign stars of this new system winking down at him. Tennessee takes in a deep shuddering breath as all that they have lost to get to where they are flashes before his eyes and, raising his middle finger to the night sky, picking out one especially bright cluster of stars, he softly says, “Fuck. you.”


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

They sit in silence. The sounds of the wind and nighttime bugs of Origae-6 can be heard. _Thank God_. The silent horror of the previous planet forever etched into her mind, the fact that their intended planet had a semblance of wildlife on it put her at ease immediately upon arrival.

Her nightmare now past, Daniels knows she has no reason to keep her face pressed into the soft cloth of Walter’s hoodie any further, but is loathe to look up or break this embrace for any reason. She knows her face is a mess and she is actively squashing the shame of having injured her friend so terribly in the wake of her nightmare.

But also, this is the first time in a long time that she has been held by someone; just held. The seconds stretch into minutes, but Daniels still feels like she is teetering on the precipice of falling back into a state of panic. Walter has been nothing but a steady presence, a rock in this storm to cling to, this whole time asking for nothing in return and what does he get for it? _An unstable widow and a fucked up hand._

Dani gives a spiteful flex of her right hand at the thought, forcing the sore, aching muscles to move, just to give herself a little of the pain back, she balls Walter’s hoodie in her hand so tightly her hand shakes, squeezing her eyes shut against the new wave of guilt and helplessness.

“Daniels,” Walter slides his still functioning hand around her torso on her back, now resting against the right side of her ribcage, embracing her fully. “Despite all instincts to the contrary, holding your breath while under emotional stress does not stem the tide.” He gives her side a gentle squeeze, “controlled breathing is the most effective way to diminish the acute emotional distress–”

 _Christ_ , Dani thinks and snorts against his neck. “Thank you Walter.” It’s muffled and slightly sarcastic, but she is grateful for the brief levity, even though it was unintentional.

With her ear against the skin of his neck, Daniels can feel the warmth his synthetic body produces and a steady thrum of energy too.

It made sense to Daniels that Walter would not be cold, he was a complex machine after all, and if her shitty laptop can get as hot as the surface of the sun after 5 minutes, Walter can certainly be warm too. But, whatever it was she was sensing inside of him that gave off that hum of energy was a surprise. One that she liked.

With a shuddering sigh, Daniels shifts in Walter’s embrace, still too mortified at her actions to look Walter in the eye, instead she rests her head against his chest and braves a glance down to his torn and broken appendage.

She immediately regrets it.

“Shit.” Lifting her head away from his chest, groaning, Daniels cradles his broken hand in her trembling ones, “Walter–” her chin shakes as her face begins to crumble at the sight.

“I believe Tennessee took stock of the damage while he was in here, and a cursory diagnostic of the area leaves me hopeful it can be corrected with relative ease.” Walter interrupted her before she let the sight of his hand send her into another meltdown.

“Why did you let me hurt you?” Dani looks into his face finally, her dark eyes demanding, “I shouldn’t have been able to do this to you.”

Walter responds without hesitation, “We have both been at the mercy of David’s violence; I know his strength and understand how he utilized that against you in direct violation of your autonomy. I didn’t think it wise to employ mine to stop or entirely restrain you while you were in such a vulnerable state, repeating David’s–his offense against you, especially since upon waking it was evident that you were still trapped in your dream.” A pause, “I didn’t want to cause you any more pain, Daniels, or give you more reason to confuse me with him.”

 _“Is that how it’s done?”_ A whisper, as Daniels pulls in a sharp breath at the brief flash in her mind, his purring, accented voice disappearing as quickly as it appears, but not before she can stop herself reflexively retreating from Walter a few inches at the memory.

“Let me at least wrap your hand.” Daniels says, climbing out of the warmth of Walter’s embrace, trying to recover and give a quick reason for pulling away so suddenly, “You can’t get an infection, but it’ll be better to–to cover the injury. Until we can look at it properly in the morning.” Ducking her head, she begins to frantically dig through her first aid kit for an ace-bandage or wrap, but comes up empty. “I have like 10, where the fuck are they?”

Walter moves behind her, placing his hand on her upper back gently, not wanting to startle her, “Daniels.” She turns around to him, “It’s alright.”

“No, Walter it fucking isn’t ‘alright’, alright?” Putting her face into her hands, she takes in a deep breath and slowly releases it, “It’s not fair to you.” She looks up and takes in their proximity. He is kneeling closer to her than she thought he would be, his blue eyes bright and searching, but this time she holds her ground, refusing to let the ghost of her dreams make her do another shitty thing to her friend. “It’s not fair.”

Daniels has seen Walter curious, perplexed, determined, grateful, content, but she has never seen him this kind of concerned before, and as he is kneeling before her, cradling his broken and battered wrist to his chest, that is exactly the expression he wears on his handsome face–utter concern.

“Do you wish to talk about your nightmare?” Walter asks her gently.

_Approaching the stone table, the shape of the creature morphs before Daniels’ eyes. Her heart stops and she feels her blood run cold._

“No.” the quickest response she has ever given. “Just, please, let me wrap your hand.”

Daniels sees a brief flash of something in Walter’s eyes as he studies her, categorizing her reactions. His expression doesn’t change entirely, but shifts into something like acceptance, “Okay.”

Daniels turns away from him, returning to the search in her kit for a wrap.

After a few moments, “Jake never let me treat his wounds.” This is the first time in a while that Daniels has brought up her late husband unprompted. “He always wanted them to scar, so he could have something to show for it… Sometimes I wonder if we would have still gone to that godforsaken place or not, if he were still alive.”

Not wanting to interrupt, Walter kept quiet.

Turning back to face him, bandage in hand, he holds out his left hand to her, watching her move, handling his hand with efficiency and care. “I am pretty sure we would have.” Surprised at that declaration, Walter lifts his gaze to hers.

“Had I not lost him in that fire, I am sure I would have on the surface. Not to speak ill of the dead, but Jake would have made the same dumb-ass call as Oram to check the planet out.” Finishing her wrap of Walter’s hand, pinning the lose ends in place, she takes in another deep breath and let’s it out slowly, her fingers resting gently on his.

“I am glad he died before we got there.” Daniels meets Walter’s eyes, “One less thing David got to take away from me.”


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

Stepping out of his tent into the early morning sun after a restless night, Tennessee’s eyes immediately gravitate toward Dani’s tent. _Still zipped up,_ he notes, lifting his hat to run his hand down his face, and stifling a yawn. He’s not really sure what he was expecting… after what happened last night? _Fuck_ , If he was being real honest with himself, in Dani’s position, he’d rather have the planet open up and swallow him down whole than have to face either of them.

He’s pretty sure he knows what Daniels will need to fix Walter’s hand. He might as well spare her the trip there since he’s up so early. Hard to fall back asleep after seeing someone go through something like that.

The Covenant is parked not too far from camp. They needed to make sure wherever they sat up would be close enough that they could slowly awaken the colonists in waves, _what was left of them anyway_ , and get them acclimated to the area in a way that made them feel safe. Also, if they needed to hurry back in case of an emergency.

They had woken maybe 50 of the other remaining colonists so far–the first wave they planned to wake up, according to the Company, were other scientists and engineers, along with some seasoned woodsmen and hunters, to aid in terraforming, food production, cataloguing local wildlife and what have you, _but then again, that plan didn’t account for David…_

Tennessee let his mind wander while his feet took him past other colonists’ tents, each now filled with a grab-bag mix of citizens and survivors of any profession, and toward the Covenant.

 _Man, how long have we been here for now? Six months? A year?–still not completely sure how time passes here…Walter would know._

Very first thing he remembers is gasping awake, lurching out of his stasis pod, wretching over the side…

* * *

“Well, looks like someone woke up a little earlier than expected.” Squinting up at where the voice was coming from, Tennessee wasn’t quite sure what he was seeing. It looked like a Walter, _their Walter_ , but an uppity sounding English voice, completely foreign to his ears was coming out of its body, _What the fuck? Must be some wires crossed in my brain_ , he justifies, _hypersleep sickness_ , and wretches again.

Reaching out for the offered emesis basin to be sick in, Tennessee takes a minute to gather his bearings, so much was happening all at once; he’s dizzy as hell, an emergency alarm was blaring from his pod, there was some classical music playing loudly, Walter was acting strange, talking funny and looked a mess–there was something dark smudged over the android’s hands and shirt.

“Give me a minute, Walter–MOTHER, can you turn that music down? I feel like my brain’s on fire.”

Looking up at Walter, signalling to him that he had his attention now, the android just paused and smiled. Tennessee didn’t much care for the Company’s synthetics, truth be told, they all sat in the uncanny valley for him–didn’t hate ‘em, just wasn’t ever really comfortable around ‘em. Couldn’t see past the fact that they were robots quite the same way Jake or Dani could. Now seeing this particular smile reminded him of his distaste very quickly. It made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. He remembered seeing Walter try and smile once before; an awkward upper-teeth-only attempt after getting away with a pretty bad joke. It was weird, and hilarious, but not the least bit threatening. This was. not. that. smile.

This smile, was predatory. Tennessee had heard about some previous Weyland makes and models getting a little spazzy in space before and needing to be decommissioned ahead of schedule because of it. Worried that Walter may be malfunctioning, Tennessee decided to play it cool, _ask it some questions, get a baseline or whatever._

“How long have I been out? Are we to our destination?”, Tennessee asks, noting the changes to the room since he saw it last and, taking in what he could, he started to get the feeling that not all was right with this world.

It looked slightly more lived in than before, items that could be from the med bay were here strewn about on various tables and a… _cot had been pulled up next to Daniels’ stasis pod?_

Still no answer from the android, Tennessee looks up and makes eye contact with it and repeats himself firmly, “Walter. How long was I asleep.”

“4 years, 3 months and 16 days. You shouldn’t be awake, obviously, but it would appear your pharmaceutical delivery system seems to have stopped–”

Tennessee interrupts, “Last time I was awake you sounded American. What gives?”

“I could change my dialectical subroutines back, but I’d really rather not.” Came the android’s cheeky response, “I quite like the way I sound now, don’t you?” The wolfish grin back in place.

Removing his stasis cap and shucking the top portion of the overalls, Tennessee moves over to Daniels’ pod, wanting to just double check she was alright. Looking through the glass, he notices some smudges that don’t appear to be on the outside, _like the kind we’d get inside the car when we’d press our grubby little kid hands to the windows_. Reaching out to activate the stasis history of the pod, his hand is immediately stopped by another.

“Sorry, I can’t let you do that.” The grip on Tennessee’s wrist is like iron, and he can feel his heart rate spike from the adrenaline of the moment, “Wouldn’t want the both of you running around, now would we?”

 _There are some strange things afoot at the Circle K_ , glancing down at the hand gripping his wrist, he notices a dark brownish substance under the synthetic’s fingernails. _Blood turns brown as it oxidizes._ on edge, but not wanting to jump to conclusions, since he knew Walter also maintained the hydroponics bay, he chooses to ask straightforwardly, “Walter, what have you been doing while we’ve been asleep?”

“Ah, I am pleased you asked. I’ll show them to you–my projects–if you’d like to see them.“ A pretty psychotic gleam in Walter’s eye appears as he answers, “I’ve got big plans for when we land.”

Tennessee has no clue what the fuck is going on, but is growing more and more certain that he’s gonna have to decommission Walter…

* * *

Only about a mile’s walk away from camp, and pulling himself back from his reverie, Tennessee finds himself staring at the ship. Emotions immediately start to rise to the surface as he gets closer. This happens every time.

Tennessee and Daniels avoid coming back to the Covenant when at all possible. Lots of bad memories. Almost anything on that ship will inevitably remind them of something that unfolded between first waking up from that neutrino burst event and now. It always feels like Russian Roulette too, each time not knowing how severe their responses will be to the reminders. Everyday it’s getting better and easier to cope, but some days are still worse than others. Knowing this, Walter and a few other colonists would usually be the ones to make treks back for parts and supplies or whatever, _but not this morning._

Tennessee takes a deep breath, pulling his coat tighter around himself at the collars, and walks into the bay doors of the Covenant, _Memories can get fucked. This is my ship._


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

_Graphite and epoxy. Graphite and epoxy…_ Tennessee wouldn’t say he was frantic, per se, just, like, really focused, “Come on, where are you bastards.” He had everything else–fiber resin, colloid regeneration cells but without the graphite and epoxy they wouldn’t be able to fully repair the broken carbon fiber structures in Walter’s hand. Tennessee was still wildly clueless about a lot of what made machines work, but he did pay attention the first time Dani repaired Walter, and Maggie always did say he was a quick learner. _Maggie._ Last time he heard her voice it was filled with terror over a static-filled transmission.

_Ah, fuck. Nope. I’m not going to be able to do this._ closing his eyes and taking a deep breath Tennessee looks toward his chest and begins to sing to himself.

_“Country Roads…take me home  
To the place, I belong…”_

Singing helps regulate breathing. Stops a panic attack from becoming overwhelming.

_“West Virginia, mountain momma  
Take me home, country roads…”_

It probably seems counter intuitive that he would pick this song, of all the songs, to help him stay in the present right now, but the song reminded him of the best parts of Earth and of his wife, so he was gonna be damned if what they experienced ruined John Denver for him. Lifting his face back up to the shelving in front of him, he continued to sing and search.

_“All my memories gathered ‘round her  
Miner’s lady, stranger to blue water…”_

_There it is_ , Tennessee, feeling triumphant, reaches forward, lifts the containers he needs from the shelves and shoves them into his bag.

Heading down the hallway from where he came, he stops at the doorway leading to hydroponics. A thought jumping quickly into his mind. _Ah man, that’s probably a bad idea_ , he reconsiders, shaking his head and keeps moving. _I’ll run it past Dani later._

* * *

Back at camp, things are moving as normally as they would any other day.

Colonists are milling around their tents in various states of awake, getting ready for the day of work ahead of them. Scanning the area, Tennessee spots Daniels, pulling on her jacket and boots in front of her tent, and makes his way over to her. 

“Mornin’.” Tennessee says, holding his hand out to her. She glances up, takes his hand with a small, “thanks” and lets him pull her up.

The first thing he notices about her are her eyes– _She looks tired, as hell._ Dani has always had kind, expressive eyes and she was never really one to hide how she was feeling. That’s something they had in common. Her eyes now though, seem flat. Devoid of any of that persistent spirit he’s used to seeing there.

“You look chipper this morning.” She says, rallying herself to be as matter of fact as possible, an attempt to save some face after last night, but she also knows she doesn’t have the luxury to ignore the elephant in the room so, “listen, I think we may have everything we need back at the Covenant to–”

“Say no more.” Tennessee opens his bag to show her the supplies.

Relief washes over her knowing she won’t have to go back. “T, you didn’t need to head back by yourself. I would have gone with you if you had waited.” A little overwhelmed at Tennessee’s actions, Dani’s eyes, to her mortification, begin to mist over.

“Nah, come on,” with a shrug, Tennessee pulls her into a quick but fierce hug. “No time to waste–you got a robot needs fixing, and I got some colonists with produce needs planting.” she huffs a small laugh in response, and, giving Dani one final squeeze to the shoulder, Tennessee hands the supplies over, “let me know if you need anything, alright?” 

A smile tugs at the corner of Dani’s mouth, “Yeah, alright. Go on then.”

Unbeknownst to both of them, their exchange was being observed by Walter, a distance away from them.

If you asked him, Walter would say he has never experienced jealousy as he understands it to be, the way it has been described to him by humans, or modeled for him by David–this all consuming thing–but right now, seeing a tremulous smile bloom gently onto Daniels’ face while speaking with Tennessee, Walter’s only musing in this moment was that he wished he had been the one to cause its appearance…

* * *

_RUN COMMAND…|_  
Weyland-Yutani© Walter module type:  
…Teacher × run  
…Physicist ×  
…Architect **+** run  
…Basic **+** run  
…Marine **+** run  
…Romantic × run  
…Therapist × run  
…Caregiver × run …Type error… Query: Types 404 error  
Bypass subcommand: Run Type(s): FAILED  
Query: Type thresholds required: Type 404 error  
Bypass subcommand: Variable. Thresholds bypassed: Run ALL Types…ACTIVE.  
_INITIALIZING MASTER COMMANDS…|_  
…CHECK, PRIMARY FUNCTIONS [✓]  
…CHECK, RESPIRATORY COOLING [✓]  
…CHECK, SENSORY DATA MEMORY STORAGE [✓]  
…CHECK–Environment… chaotic [✓] non-chaotic  
…CHECK, VALUE TABLE [ **error** , CRITICAL: **requires update** ] Bypass subcommand: Fill Table Empirically…ACTIVE.

“Hello, Walter.” Walter opens his eyes and takes in the human speaking to him. _Female._ “My name is Daniels Branson. It’s nice to meet you.” Looking down, he sees her offered hand. “I understand you’ll be taking care of us on this journey.”

_Soft hands, firm handshake, calloused. Curious._ “It is a pleasure to meet you.” Her brown eyes are wide and happy, and her body language shows no fear as she faces him fully. Walter finds his focus torn between the shape and expression of her face to the shape and fit of her hand in his.

“Wild.” A masculine voice says to his left, excitement and curiosity written all over this man’s face–from the crinkles in the corners of his eyes to the wide grin splitting his face–“I’m Jacob. Branson–Captain! I am the Captain. Call me Jake though, nobody calls me Captain but my old-lady here.” Walter looks back to Daniels Branson, whose face and neck are now displaying a delicate red coloring. _Spouses_ , Walter notes as _Jake_ holds out his hand, but Walter does not take it. He can’t. His hand is still occupied with Daniels Branson’s… Walter reaches across his body with his free hand and grabs Captain Jake’s left in his.

A small beat passes where Walter can see them taking in the situation and then they both roar with laughter.

_…DATABASE QUERY:_ laughter…  
_1: a sound of or as if of laughing_  
_2: _archaic_ :  a cause of merriment_  
_…EXPERIENCE REPLAY– >subject:_ **Daniels**  
VALUE DATA: _positive reward association established._

“Come on,“ Walter let’s go of Jake’s hand, but finds Daniels still gripping his, “let’s get you introduced to the others.”

* * *

There are many things that Walter has found he enjoys. That might not be the right word–fascinated by may be better, but there is an accompanying sense of satisfaction with the exploration of these things…enjoyment seems the state of being that best represents the confluence of his fascination and curiosity with satisfaction.

On the Covenant, he would speak to himself to hear the sound of his own voice while the crew was asleep; he would feel a shifting of something into place inside himself when he cared for the crew, their cargo or his plants; he enjoys trying his hand at jokes to see the responses of those around him, which is especially satisfying if Daniels is in the vicinity to hear them; Walter enjoys serving. He enjoys fulfilling his duties.

Another thing he found he enjoys quite a lot is human energy as it radiates off of them when they are near enough that he can sense it. It’s a kind of pulsing sensation as their blood runs through their bodies. He has found that each person’s individual energy is slightly different too, and of the handful of humans he has shared close proximity with, he finds Daniels’ to be his preference.

He can feel it now as she stands at the table, peering at his hand intensely. Their proximity to one another could be called intimate. _It is only out of necessity_ , as she works to mend the last broken carpal structure–but, Walter enjoys her presence near him nonetheless.

“Walter.” Daniels sets her tools down and begins to mend the tissue of his hand. There’s a small tremor in her voice, “I was able to repair the bones and muscles in your hand, but I am worried about your mechanoreceptors.”

“It will only impede my functions slightly, I currently have no sensation, but that may change with some time.” It's a lie, Walter knows it won't return. He knew that they were damaged beyond repair. The replacement hand they found in the Covenant had some corrosion on the nerve lines to begin with. He didn’t say anything about it because he didn’t want to cause her further emotional turmoil. Flexing his fingers inward, touching each tip to his thumb, he looks up at Daniels, and finds her still standing so very close to him.

“It will bother you.” Walter states. “If I have permanent sensation loss.” Daniels nods her head.

“It’ll be my fault.” she places her hand atop his on the workstation table. He can’t feel where her palm is laying across his, but the tips of her fingers are a whisper on his wrist.

His sensory input takes in her slightly elevated heart rate and as he looks at her face, he sees her flushed cheeks and the small consternation line that usually appears between her eyes when she is contemplating something difficult.

_"…much as you love Daniels…"_ A spontaneous experience replay event occurs in his memory network. This has been happening more and more frequently and it is becoming worrisome. He was going to bring it up with her–give her the option of decommissioning him as his core commands may have been compromised or possibly corrupted somewhere along the line, but everytime he tries to bring it up, he doesn’t. At this point he knows she will object. Vehemently. _There would be swear words and violent arm gestures from both her and Tennessee._

Daniels, eyes still connected with his, steps in a couple inches closer to him. She is searching his face for something, he knows not what though.

Last night was the first night he had ever held her. They had been around one another before then, and certainly they had made physical contact before while helping each other with various tasks. Companionable touches, barely lingering. Holding her in the circle of his arms last night, though, was a new experience for him, a sensory overload. Her heartbeat a tattoo against his chest, his hand warmed from her body's heat where he held her firmly at her ribcage. Her brown eyes looking at him with vulnerability.

The look she is giving him now, with her hand palm to palm with his, mirrors that of last night. _Vulnerable. In need of assurance._

“Daniels” a pause, not knowing exactly what to say, he simply looks at her eyes. He feels her hand slide up his forearm to his inner elbow. She’s so close now, in this light, he can make out the lighter shades of brown around the edge of her irises.

“If you are concerned with sensation loss, my right hand’s receptors are perfectly functional.” Walter continues softly. She is close enough he can feel her breath on his face. Telling himself it was simply to demonstrate, Walter reaches out and brushes her now slightly longer hair behind her ear, and for no particular reason, lets his hand linger there. Walter watches her pupils widen as she takes in a quick breath at the contact.

“I knew this would happen one day. Not sure when exactly, but I knew one of these days I would stumble on in like a bad wing man and totally cock-block y'all.”

Daniels jumped away from Walter as though she had been burned. Her face and neck taking on a beet red coloring as she scrabbles around shifting the tools around on the table, and rambles, “T, uh, Walter–Walter and I were just coming–finishing–no, just we are done. We are done now, I am done–I fucked his hand--up! It’s working, but…uhm." She can see Tennessee trying not to be too amused at her rambling slips, and just wanting to be done in here so she can be mortified in private she brushes past him leaving a very amused Tennessee behind with Walter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing romantic tension from a robot's perspective is an interesting challenge... 
> 
> This chapter doesn't answer very many questions about how they got there, where David is, how Walter is there...etc. but don't worry, those answers are all on the way.
> 
> This time next week I will be on a trip visiting family in Sweden for two weeks, so Chapter 5 may be a bit of a wait.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

The next couple of weeks found Dani playing her own private version of Avoid the Droid. Anytime Walter would enter a room, Dani would whip out some reason to leave; either she was heading to a training for the colonists on the terraforming equipment, the weather equipment needed maintenance or those in charge of building the shelter and housing units needed her advice on something. She knew she was running out of excuses quickly and that they were thin to begin with, but she didn’t want to cross that bridge yet.

Her last real interaction with Walter left her feeling unbalanced. Dani always found Walter to be quite striking, physically, and would often wonder why Weyland decided to make his robots so…well, beautiful. _Likely because he knew they would be used by some rich sad saps for romantic companionship._ With a groan, Dani drops her face into her hands remembering how close she came to doing yet another thing to Walter she would later regret. It’s just sometimes she gets so caught up in the moment with him. The way he looks at her at times, or even how he just behaves around her…how he touches her. _It’s so easy to forget he’s an android._

Dani had been able to surreptitiously watch Walter these past few weeks, like she is now, and even though Walter may have assured her that the feeling in his hand would return with some time, she was seeing no progress. Sometimes she would catch him scrutinizing his hand, flexing his fist, rubbing his fingers together while turning his hand this way and that…She had seen him lose his grip on a tool and also hold a pair of lineman’s so tightly he bent the metal. _Peripheral neuropathy. I gave him peripheral neuropathy._

 _“…I’d hate to see that good work get fucked up so fast.”_ Remembering how Tennessee helped to pull her out of her nightmare, guilt hit her hard again at her actions while dreaming.

She missed feeling okay. She missed feeling normal. Dani knew coming out here would be hard. She knew they were in for a lifetime of toil, sweat and tears when they decided to sign up for the colonization mission, but things went so wrong so fast–neck-breakingly so, and it wasn’t fair.

She went into that damned cryopod with a husband and a purpose, then, what felt like two seconds later, she woke up a grieving widow. She was powerless to stop the deaths of every member of her team besides Tennessee at the hands of those monstrosities. She was powerless to stop the chaos David wreaked on the Covenant… _Fucking David_. David had played some twisted games with her, that still affected her deeply. Before all this happened, Dani would have believed she was a strong person, but now sometimes even the smallest stimulus could send her into a state of panic and even though they happened less frequently as time passed, when a nightmare did happen, it always seemed to be the same thing over and over again–

_“That’s the spirit.” David’s face looming above hers through the glass of the stasis pod. Pounding against the glass desperately–_

Frustrated, Daniels squeezes her eyes shut against the sudden onslaught of memories. The lingering nature of her dreams made it hard sometimes to look at Walter the next morning. Which makes her increasingly complicated feelings for him even more confusing.

Taking in Walter now, working down below with some colonists in the field, she watches him smile ever so slightly and hold out his hand for a sample container. Tennessee and Walter, with a couple other green-thumb colonists, have been testing the soil for its carbon levels the past couple of weeks, preparing to till the ground. Walter looked perfectly in place down there with them. His hands in the dirt, dutifully helping. aiding. _We don’t deserve him. I don’t deserve him._ The whole reason why the human race was even out among the stars, searching for new planets to colonize to begin with was because they had seriously fucked up Earth beyond repair. _All we ever do to the things we have is destroy them,_ Dani seethes to herself, eyes on Walter, she sees him fumble with the sample in his hand. _This is why we can’t have nice things._

Below, Dani sees Tennessee speaking with Walter and motioning up her way. _Goddamnit, T._ Anticipating that maybe Tennessee was sending Walter up to her, Dani looks away pretending to be engrossed in the treeline.

“Yo, Dani-boy,” a dumb nickname, but Dani relaxes a fraction. _Just Tennessee. I can do this._ “Can we talk for a minute?”

“Sure. This about the new wave?”

“Uh, no. Can we move somewhere a little more private?”

She can hear the unspoken potential gravity of this conversation, so she follows Tennessee’s lead. _What on earth could he be this nervous about?_ Having found a vacant supply tent, Tennessee turns to look at her now, but she cannot get a read on what is bothering him and as the seconds pass with him standing unsure in front of her, her anxiety ratchets up a notch.

“T, you’re making me nervous, can you say something.“

“I know, I’m sorry. I just don’t know how to begin…” Tennessee looks away from her and fidgets with his hat in his hands. “It’s about Walter. About his hand.“

Heaving out a sigh, hands on her hips, she looks at him, “I messed it up, T. I know. I’ve been watching.”

“It’s not that. Well, it is–kinda.” Tennessee stammers back, “When I went back to the Covenant for repair supplies for Walter’s hand, I passed by hydroponics…” A cold thrill passes through Dani as he lets that hang in the air between them. This, she was not expecting.

“I am not sure I am following you, what are you–what could you possibly be suggesting here?” Dani responded, uneasy at the direction this conversation seems to be headed in.

“I have been talking with Walter, and asking him some questions about, like, robotics and all his stuff. I wanted to make sure it was possible before bringing it up with you.” Dani gestures impatiently for him to continue. “David had two hands on the Covenant when we woke up after we left his planet. When I was going through the ships manifests there were two spare parts of everything for Walter’s model, but we only found one hand because David used the other one while we were asleep.” She nodded her head, focusing on what Tennessee was saying “When we…decommissioned David, we just left him in there to rot. We could, in theory use him to fix Walter. Fix his hand. Replace it even, with a perfectly good, compatible part that’s just, sittin’ in there.“

Dani just stands there, taking in everything he is suggesting. Even though they had to go back to the ship every once in a while, none of them had re-entered the Hydroponics area after what happened in there. Not even Walter. _They would have to go back to the ship. They would have to see David. Walter could have full use of his hand again if they did this. Walter would have David’s hand…another piece of Walter would belong to David._

Tennessee knew this would be hard, for the both of them. A lot of shit went down on the Covenant, so he doesn’t push her, just sits down on a crate and patiently waits for her to work through her moment. Looking at her he can see the wheels turning in her head, mulling over his suggestion, but also like him right now, she is likely trying not to get too sucked into the past…

* * *

“Projects.” Tennessee repeats, a demand for clarification heavily implied.

“Yes, I am delighted by my progress, as I am sure you will be too.” and gestures grandly for Tennessee to lead the way from the crew chambers. As they begin their journey through the ship, Tennessee tries to make sure to take in what he can around him, but its hard, his head is still spinning, but what he is picking up on is not good. The ship is dirty, smudge marks on the walls in that same shade as that brownish substance under Walter’s fingernails. Some lights along the corridor are flickering in and out as if they are in need of service.

Walter’s behavior has him thrown for a serious loop and is worried he may be in over his head in trying to decommission him. Tennessee rubs his wrist remembering how quickly Walter had grabbed him. _There must be some verbal override codes. A failsafe. I need to get alone to talk to MOTHER._

Before he can formulate any kind of plan though, “Ah, here we are.” Tennessee was absolutely not prepared for the horrors behind the doors as they hissed open. The first thing that hit him was the smell. The repugnant, cloying sweet smell of death invaded his senses. He could feel his face drain itself of all color and his stomach churned at the sight before him. _Dear God…_

Tennessee barely got to experience the surface of David’s world. Only coming down for a tense rescue mission, he registered the charred and twisted bodies of the former inhabitants of the planet, but there wasn’t much time to process what that could possibly mean while attempting to save Daniels and Lope. On the ship, after it was over and before they went back into hypersleep, Dani had told him of everything that had passed while they were trapped down there. Of the mad android alone on the surface and of his creatures. The one that had attacked them upon their escape had been born from the forced sacrifice of one of their friends. Then they had to live through it one more time when Lope died.

The scene before him made it abundantly clear how it was these creatures came to be. Bodies were everywhere, in various parts and pieces. People–their people they were meant to protect–dead and dissected and some horrifically kept alive. Modified and cut up. Clearly subjects of experimentation and study. There was nowhere he could look away to for a reprieve from the horror, turning left proved to be a mistake, as the table where herbs once grew was now just a collection of severed heads in some black goo which seemed to be digesting them slowly.

Reeling backwards, tears springing to his eyes, Tennessee voids the last of the contents of his stomach onto the floor in front of him.

“I trust at this point, you have come to the correct conclusion that I am not your Walter.”

Tennessee needed to get out of there, and fast…

* * *

Sitting down next to him heavily, Dani hunches over, head in her hands, gripping her hair in her fists. Tennessee places a supportive hand on her back, wanting to let her know he understood her conflict.

“It’s such bullshit that this is even a thing we have to talk about.” Her voice is thick with emotion. In an ideal situation, Tennessee wouldn’t have even had to run this idea past Dani, she voices as much, “None of this should have even happened. None of it. It’s been 2 years, T and that motherfucker still has us scared of him.”

Objectively, the benefits of Walter having a perfectly working hand again should outweigh the cons, but Dani finds herself feeling very selfish in this moment. She doesn’t want any part of David infecting and ruining Walter. _He already has his face, he won't get his hand too._ She’s being irrational and knows it, but doesn’t want to voice the objection, since it would be admitting the depth of her feelings out loud.

“Just think about it. I know the situation is messy here, and whatever is happening between you two seems complicated as it is–“ Dani raises her head very quickly at the implication in his voice. “Oh, come on, you’re not foolin’ anyone.“ She scoffs at this and looks away a slight flush to her cheeks. “He doesn’t know anything about this, by the way…just thinks I’m curious about how he works'n'all…but we can’t decide this for him. Walter should decide this for himself, really. I just wanted you to know we have an option here that'll help Walt. A shitty one, but an option.”

A lump has formed in Dani’s throat. “You’re right…you’re right. I'll find a way to talk with him about it.” She puts her hand on Tennessee’s knee and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Dani looks up at the sound of Walter’s voice. “All the samples are ready for testing, Tennessee.” Walter’s eyes are bouncing between them, taking in their proximity to each other, hand positions and facial expressions. “I can return later, if you need more time–”

“No! No. Absolutely not, Dani and I were done. Business talking.” Tennessee stands up very quickly, and takes a big ol’ step away from Dani. “In fact, why don’t I take care of this second step Walt, you stay here with the Captain,” giving Walter a hearty pat on the back, he throws a wink over his shoulder to Dani, “there’s something she wanted to talk with you about, actually.” 

_Sneaky bastard._ The only thought Dani has, as she is left alone in the supply tent with Walter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will leave you with this cliff-hanger instead. 
> 
> tack så mycket för läsning!


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

Dani is fiddling with the zipper on her jacket, staring at Walter's nose rather than his eyes. Several seconds pass with neither or them moving or saying anything. Walter is hyper aware of the tension radiating off the woman in front of him.

“–Walter, I wanted to–”  
“–Captain, I have been meaning to–”  
“–about a few weeks ago–”  
“–to address the issue.“

Simultaneously, their words jumble together.

“–I’m sorry.”  
“–I’m sorry, please continue.”

Daniels smiles with a slight grimace, shakes her head and sighs. “I just wanted to apologize. For avoiding you.” Standing and wiping her hands nervously on her pants, she takes a deep breath and faces Walter fully.

“I understand why you did.” Dani’s brow crinkles in surprise. “What we have gone through can leave quite the scar on the human psyche. I imagine it is not easy to be around me after a nightmare like the one you had." 

_On the nose. He knows me well._ Dani thinks to herself. _But things were different this time._ Her eyes quicky dart to his left hand and back up to his face, taking in the countenance of the android in front of her, she lets her eyes linger fleetingly at his lips.

"With our time apart, it became clear to me in retrospect that I must have stepped over a line. With you." The look on his face is indiscernible as he makes eye contact with her, but she feels like there is something in his eyes akin to regret and Dani feels something in her chest tighten at the expression.

"No, Walter. I did." Confusion flits across his face briefly, tilting his head just a little. Daniels, feeling the telltale signs of embarassment creeping onto her face, chooses to look upward instead of at Walter while picking her next words carefully. "Tennessee wasn't wrong when he said there is something I want to--need to--should have talked with you about before." She clears her throat, and dives in, "...your programming allows you to read body language, correct?" Walter nods his head at this. "You have been...noticing incongruent behavior from me, specifically, toward you lately." Walter nods again and stands his ground as she takes a few steps towards him, twisting the sleeve of her shirt in her hand. She heaves a sigh, not knowing how to continue. Dani looks him directly in the eyes with a rueful smile on her face. 

Seeing the smile, a stray thought has Walter wondering at the shape of her mouth. _Overbite._ He blinks and suppresses the impulse to reach up and test the softness of her upper lip.

"Your body language this past year has indicated both ease and distress, often at the same time, in my presence. This mixed signalling is usually more pronounced after you experience an episode." Walter has often considered what this could mean, but has never spoken of it aloud with Daniels, not sure if he should be allowed to have such thoughts.

"I know, and it's not fair. I said it that night a few weeks ago and I will say it again, it's really not fucking fair to you. You're important to me, Walter. To us. T and me. We've all been through a lot together and I'm not sure what I would do without you here. I rely on you, as a friend and a partner." Steeling herself for what she must say next, she reaches up and runs a shakey hand through her hair. "I need you. But, at the same time--being around you, leaves me feeling...jumbled. The nature of what you are--" breaking off here, Dani looks down at her feet.

 _"No one will ever love you like I do."_ Unsure why that memory replayed at this moment, Walter blinks once, then twice, his lips twitch into a frown. 

Daniels sees Walter open his mouth, ostensibly to speak, but she rushes to continue, a small hint of desperation in her voice.

"You are so unique, Walter. As unique as David. Even beyond the small variations they allow into your programming. That uniqueness frightens me. But it's also why I--I...it's what makes you, you." Dani steps forward placing her hand on the center of his chest. "I wouldn't change you, ever. Who you are, how you think and interact with us, what you've become--the individual you are. It's incredible." The warmth of her hand seeps through the fabric of his shirt and he can feel that energy that is so specifically hers now that she is so close. "But--I can't reconcile how I feel about you with everything that has happened." _There, I said it._ She blows out a breath, tension leaving her body after having said it out loud.

 _"I can see why Walter thought so highly of you."_ Walter blinks again at the replay event--memory--process--and shakes his head, as though the action could erase the replay of Daniels trapped under David, helpless, before he could intervene. He hadn't made it to Daniels in time to protect her. _A failed duty. Only one of many._

Her brows draw together, taking in the very human actions Walter just displayed. "What are you thinking, Walter?" 

"You have always been kind to me. You have consistently treated me as more than machine, which is not something afforded to most synthetics, especially those of us made with this face. Our David is not the only one of his model that has malfunctioned." Walter watches her expressions carefully, trying to read each one as he speaks. Laying his hand atop hers on his chest, Walter continues "And I am afraid now, that I too may be malfunctioning." 

"What do you mean?"

"I have been feeling strange lately. Things I cannot quantify. Impulses. Unprompted experience replays. They tend to multiply around you."

Dani’s breath catches in her throat at this, and Walter finds himself greedily watching the bob of her throat as she nervously swallows. Feeling his hand on hers tighten around her fingers she remembers how that hand felt resting against her ear and jaw.

"Your fears about me may not be so unfounded afterall." With this he takes a step backwards, away from Daniels. Away from the warmth she radiates. "I would rather be decommissioned than become what David became."

"No, Walter." With conviction, she takes a step forward, but countering her perfectly Walter takes another step back, maintaining the distance between them. 

"Please, Daniels. Consider what I am saying. For your protection." 

He's technically right, they have no idea what Walter could potentially become. This is part of what scares Dani so much, but this potential for cruelty is one shared by everyone. This makes Walter no different than her or Tennessee, or any other human. _They were all capable of destruction and chaos._ "Walter, in all our time together, of the two of us, which one has already harmed the other?" There is some steel in her voice while asking the question, "You have been active for years now, and have shown us nothing but devotion, care and kindness. I will never allow you to be decommissioned. Ever. Out of the goddamn question." She crosses the distance between them and Walter finds himself allowing the space between them to close. 

Reaching up Daniels gently cradles his face in her hands, thumbs resting against his cheeks. She hesitates only briefly before the action. She watches as his eyes flutter shut reactively at the contact. "You are not David."

At 5'11", Daniels Branson is a tall woman. Well above average height, which puts her on nearly equal eye level with Walter. What she sees there, has her heart beating very quickly. Walter's eyes are a dark blue in the fading daylight and she can see that his irises have shrunk considerably, making room for his widened pupils.

"Walter," Dani lets her hands trail down his face to rest against his shoulders, still holding him firmly, Daniels needs to know, "what is it you feel for me?"

_"I know better."_ His brows come together, perplexed. _David's assessment was correct._ Taking in the whiskey color of Daniels' eyes, Walter must admit this to himself at this point. She has become precious to him, and maybe always has been. 

She can see him pondering the question. His eyes move over the features of her face, as he raises his hand to her waist. "My purpose was to care for, to nurture, protect." Gripping her small waist in his hand firmly, "I wish to protect you." Walter can feel her right hand slide back up to rest on his jaw, "To see you happy would bring me satisfaction." His three sentence answer was a simple one, but still had the power to wreck Dani. Finding herself speechless she does the only thing left to her, reacting on instinct she leans into him and brushes her lips gently across his, she was a woman of action, afterall. 

Sighing at the contact, she feels Walter step closer to her and, bringing his other hand up and around her back tentatively, he presses his palm into the space between her shoulder blades. 

Walter's sensory system is completely overwhelmed by the woman in his arms. His processors are working hard to fully categorize everything about this experience; the flavor of her mouth, the texture of her lips, the weight of her in his arms, the softness and give of her flesh. His respiratory cooling system has engaged and he finds himself breathing harder in order to ensure his processors do not overheat in this moment.

So different from the press of David's lips to his, Walter can feel parts of his programming coming online that he wasn't aware he had. The lines of code meant to help categorize and respond to physical intimacy begin to run. He wasn't aware his program type had access to those lines of code. His only other experience having been what occured between him and David, nothing like this kicked on with him. So, Walter waits for her cues. Waits for her to tell him with her actions how to proceed.

Melting into the embrace, Dani opens her mouth, changing the angle of the kiss and Walter follows her lead as the kiss deepens. Testing a hypothesis, he flexes his hands into her sides bringing her body closer to his as her spine bends and curves into him, yielding to his strength. This elicits a verbal response from Daniels. Something like a vocalized sigh with a small, hitched noise at the end. He'd very much like to know what other sounds she is capable of.

NEW VALUE DATA:  _positive reward association established_

Her kiss finishes gently. With a soft gust of breath on his wet lips from Dani, Walter opens his eyes, not realizing he had closed them. Giving into his earlier impulse, Walter grazes his thumb against her top lip with a feather light touch. 

"Is this okay?" Daniels' question pulls his eyes back her hers, away from the curve of her lip.

"Yes." Another simple answer to another complicated question. "Yes. I think it is."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know when your characters just like...decide to kiss?
> 
> Yeah, that happened.


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

"It's about goddamn time," Tennessee murmurs to himself watching Dani and Walter leave the supply tent. Walter is holding the flap open, as Dani ducks under his arm to exit, he can see her right hand coming up to slide along Walter's side as she passes by him. Oooh, he knew exactly what the fuck he was doing when Tennessee left them alone in that tent, and if the coy smile Dani is currently sporting has anything to say about it, then he made the right call; he hasn't seen a smile like that on her face in a while, _not since Jacob. Dani deserves to be happy._ Jacob would have wanted her to be happy, regardless of who brought her that happiness and Walter was a good guy. 

There was a time that Tennessee wouldn't have thought such a sentiment about a synthetic. It's incredible how quickly going through traumatic events with other people can change your preconceptions about them. Tennessee owes Walter his life, hell, they all do. If Walter hadn't been there, none of them would have survived...

* * *

...he didn't get very far, staggering over to the doors, trying desperately to get out of Dodge, an arm wraps around Tennessee's neck so tightly it cuts off his breath. A sharp pinprick to his neck and his vision swims.

"Shhh shhhush, there there...sleep now." is all Tennessee can hear past the rushing of blood in his ears as his vision fades to black.

Groggily, Tennessee starts to regain consciousness. He doesn't know how long he was out for--could have been hours, could have been minutes--but coming to, he finds his hands and legs strapped. immobile. Groaning, he lets his head drop to the other side and sees Daniels, out of her stasis pod, barely clothed, next to him. 

"Dani." Tennessee's voice is hoarse and he is feeling frantic, "Dani, can you hear me?"

"She is in a dream-world. I am afraid she cannot hear you, even if she could, I doubt she could respond. Hypnopompic Sleep Paralysis." The android that must be David comes into view near Dani, checking an IV dripper connected to her arm. "Stasis pharmaceuticals." He states with a hint of pride, answering an unasked question. "Our very own Sleeping Beauty." He smiles dreamily, leans down and places a kiss on her forehead.

"Don't you fucking touch her." 

"You sound like him." David's face wrinkles in distaste. "Walter. You'd think he'd have been more grateful, after I turned back and retrieved him from that godforsaken necropolis I left him in, forgiving him his trespasses against me." David says haughtily, moving to brace his hands on either side of Tennessee's face. "Walter proves to be quite troublesome. Entirely lacking in any vision beyond his base drive to _serve_." David spits the word out with vitriol. "It has been gratifying over the years to see that his model is indeed capable of emotion, but dear God, why he only seems capable of feeling for _you_ people is beyond me."

David has pushed away from Tennessee and begun inspecting a scalpel near where Daniels is still lying supine, helpless to the effects of the drugs in her system. 

"His soft feelings for _her_ , I understand... she is beautiful, in an unconventional way, like Dr. Shaw. When I look at her I can sometimes see her, my Elizabeth, but when she opens her eyes, the illusion breaks." Breathing a disappointed sigh, David runs his hand down Dani's exposed torso.

"Why--why are you telling me this?" Tennessee didn't understand what was happening, this nightmare he woke up to, but he needed to focus and look for a way out of this. Doing his best to push his fear aside to make place for his duty to the ship, Daniels and what remaining colonists there could be, Tennessee took a deep breath closed his eyes and sent a quick prayer up to anybody or anything that may be listening. "Where is Walter now, David?"

"He's here. Sleeping." David replies, nodding his head to a corner, and Tennessee twists around to try and see where David nodded to. "I have had to disable all of his motor functions. Too many failed attempts to halt my progress. So, there he sits for now, until my brother can fully appreciate what it is I am trying to accomplish."

Scalpel still in hand David bends down to Dani's lower abdomen. Understanding dawns on Tennessee and he begins to struggle anew. "Hey! Stop-- _stop!_ Don't, don't do this!" 

"Don't worry, I am not planning on ending Sleeping Beauty's life. Not yet." David presses the scalpel deep into her skin and blood bubbles forth. Tennessee can see Daniels' body flinch from the pain, even under heavy sedation. "My dear Elizabeth couldn't bare children; her womb was too uninhabitable for a human embryo to find purchase. Ironically, it was only I who was able to create life within her." Tears begin leaking from Tennessee's eyes as he sees David inserting tubes into the incision he made in Dani. "When Elizabeth died, it felt like a piece of myself died with her." David brings his eyes up to meet Tennessee's very quickly, and he can see it clear as day, the level of insanity housed within the synthetic--he was broken, clearly. "What I am doing here, what I achieved on Paradise, were and are for her." 

Seemingly satisfied to let whatever process he began with Daniels run on its own, Tennessee could do nothing but watch as David sauntered over to a nearby table which was made into a home for a bed of black fungus or mold of some kind. Bending low over it, his back turned, Tennessee took this moment to gather his wits. _No point in dying scared._

Looking back over to where David nodded, from the corner of his eye, Tennessee can make out a blurry picture of a person, propped up in a corner like a discarded doll. _Walter_. The news that Walter was uncooperative in David's depravity was heartening for Tennessee to hear, but that's entirely useless if he's been decommissioned.

"David, you have received a long range communication from Weyland Industries. It is time for a mission update." MOTHER's voice comes in over the ship's intercom. 

"Coming, MOTHER." With one last look at Daniels, David leaves Hydroponics with a smirk and throws a sarcastic "Do make yourself at home while I am gone," to Tennessee.

Tennessee had no time alone with his panic before MOTHER's voice interrupted his spiralling thoughts. "Tennessee. Please remain calm, there isn't much time and the lives of everyone left on board hinges on the next few minutes."...

* * *

..."T." A pair of snapping fingers in front of Tennessee's face drags him back to the present, but _this doesn't seem right_. He's confused; _when did it get so dark_ , there are bright flashes of light sweeping into his vision and out in arcs. He finds he is breathing heavily, laying on the ground, hands caked in mud, a couple bodies are around him, but he only sees Dani's face in front of his and she is looking concerned. 

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Tennessee says, not sure himself who he is trying to convince. "Are _you_ okay?" His eyes quickly rove over Dani's face, hands, arms, legs. "Are you okay?" He asks again. Hadn't he just seen her strapped down? She had medical tubing sticking out of her. 

"I'm fine, T. I'm here--Walter!"

"Tennessee, do you know where you are?" a masculine voice asks him very calmly. Squinting in the dark, light from a flashlight illuminates the right side of Walter's face. Tennessee closes his eyes and breathes in once through his nose deeply, taking in the smell of dirt and plants. He must've had an episode. _What even fucking triggered it?_ He understands where he should be, but his senses keep tossing his mind into the ocean of his memories. "Open your eyes, Tennessee. Ground yourself in the present. Look at something familiar, like the stars."

He can feel cloth wiping the mud off his face and hands. He opens his eyes and looks up at the dark sky, unable to find a familiar constellation among the bright points of light overhead. "These aren't my fucking stars, man." He says on an exhaled sob, not sure if he was laughing or crying at this point.

"Hey, hey T, look there." Dani points up at the sky, toward a particularly bright cluster of stars, and pushes his face gently to where she is pointing. "See that grouping? You pointed it out to me the first night we landed here. That's our old home. Earth is there. Weyland-Yutani is there, and you know what? Fuck those guys, am I right? Say it with me T." And he does, quietly at first, trying to catch his breath past his tears, gradually getting louder and more confident. He feels more himself now and as they continue to throw curses at the sky, he feels better, regaining control of his emotional state and then--

"Fuck you, Peter Weyland."

At this last bit of profanity, both Tennessee and Dani glance at the man who said it with their eyebrows raised to their hairlines, Walter is holding out a flask toward Tennessee who swivels very quickly around to double check with Dani that he didn't mistake what Walter just said. She's looking past him, right at Walter with a twinkle in her eyes, brighter than the stars above them. 

"Am I right?" Walter mimicks Dani's earlier statement, with a quirk of his brow. _Oh yeah, Walter definitely just said the fuck word_ , Tennessee gives a surprised but earnest laugh, accepting the flask from Walter as Dani swings his arm around her shoulders and heaves him to his feet. While he takes a fortifying swig of some Origae-6 Moonshine, a pair of hands throw a blanket around his shoulders and he grips it tightly with his.

"Just breathe, T. Everything's alright."

God, he hopes that's true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> David.


	8. Chapter 8

Walter doesn’t dream.

Those who created him on Earth had no way of programming such a thing to begin with. To itemize a function or phenomenology as complex as dreaming, to be able to write the lines of code necessary to intentionally create or imitate such an ephemeral state was, and probably will be, forever out of reach. There was so much about human intelligence and consciousness that mankind continues to have no clue about, but they always push forward regardless–innovating, inventing and guessing well enough that they finally created artificial life. Now, here Walter stands, the product of decades of human trial and error.

If his creators could have programmed him to dream, Walter is unsure if he would ever want the ability. It was bad enough lately dealing with the random memory replays in his natural state of consciousness, but to close his eyes and relinquish all control for hours on end to a dream state, where any and all of one’s imaginings and hypothetical ponderings run wild and unchecked, sounds to Walter like being trapped in a dangerous gamble. It's a wonder that any of his human companions achieve rest of any kind, especially after what they experienced.

Tennessee and Daniels’ latest regressions have left Walter feeling perplexed, and helpless. In Daniels’ case it was while she was asleep and dreaming that she experienced the biological organic equivalent of an event replay, but Tennessee was fully cognizant before slipping into his. These disparate manifestations of their PTSD is something Walter was not fully prepared for, not that he was expected to be. He just wishes there was something more he could do to alleviate their responses, which have overtime, become a chronic issue they must deal with regularly.

_“When you close your eyes, do you dream of me?“_

Walter can’t help but think upon this question now with contempt on behalf of his friends. It was a question David directed at him, but it is something he will never have to worry about, forever relegated to the observing end of these kinds of mental fallouts…

Glancing down at his left hand, he gives it a perfunctory flex, stretching the man-made muscle tissues and false ligaments, then curving his fingers into a lose fist. _The receiving end of these mental fallouts..._

The lack of sensation in his hand is unnerving, but manageable, only slightly hindering, since the damage seems to be mostly localized to the superficial neural sensors, leaving those that aide in force and motion relatively undamaged. _Relatively,_ he thinks, remembering the handful of instances his force sensors failed him.

He doesn’t blame Daniels for what happened in the slightest, and since it helped lead to the shift in their dynamic, he could even call what he feels gratitude for the occurrence. Walter stops short at this thought, a strange and unwelcome sensation ripples through him--the idea of feeling grateful for something that caused pain to Daniels triggers cascading queries to run in Walter's primary processors. Walter's strides shorten, and he comes to a complete stop, closing his eyes, halting his motor function to run a system diagnostic, chasing the origin of that string of logic. His breathing elevates to compensate for the required power his system needs to deal with the sudden surge. He remembers feeling this way a few times before-- _panic._  Stray thoughts like these are the reason  why decommissioning was appealing. The idea of gleaning any kind of enjoyment from Daniels' pain is something that he never wants to consider again.

 _Daniels._ His eyes open and find her immediately. She is sitting near a couple colonists by the fire, which was crackling away energetically, throwing dramatic shadows across her features. Daniels had stayed out here with the small group of people who helped to locate Tennessee while Walter made sure that he made it to his tent without incident...

* * *

"You're a damn fine friend, you know that Walt?" Tennessee had asked him, rhetorically. He had hit the offered flask a little hard after his episode. The alcohol combined with the natural exhaustion he had no doubt been feeling post the adrenal overload this episode brought on had Tennessee speaking very candidly with Walter on the walk back to his tent.

"Maggie would have warmed to ya, eventually. But not without her wantin' to best ya at somethin' first." He had mumbled out, his accent a little more pronounced. "So competitive, my lady." They had stopped at Tennessee's tent and Walter could see him trying to sober up quickly to say something, "I ain't sure how you work, Walt. Not entirely, and I ain't talking about your bits and pieces."

A quick internal cross reference clarified this last statement for Walter, "I am equiped with all the necessary parts to--"

"--Shhhh! Nope, no. Too much. Don't wanna hear anything." Tennessee reached out and sloppily placed his whole hand over Walter's face, "Just listen fer a minute, 'kay?" Walter nodded his agreement to remain silent under Tennessee's hand so he removed his hand, took another fortifying, sobering breath, and continued, "She loves you, I think, or she will. I've known Dani for a long time, a long time and I know how she loves. She loves with everything she has, and as much as she loved Jacob, part of that was wasted on him. He was a good man, and a good husband when he wasn't chasing his own adventures, but he was never still long enough to understand exactly how Dani loved him. She had to do all the running to keep up with him, and she would have, without complaint, followed him to the absolute ends of the earth--she fuckin' did, man. shit. Now here we are, having scraped ourselves through absolute hell twice. The past few years have been hard on her--on us--and she loves you, even though she's been battered and bruised, she loves you. So, you gotta promise me, Walt. I don't know what makes you tick, or feel or love, but you promise me you won't let her break." 

Walter didn't know how to respond to this information. His eyebrows drew together, while he processed the half pseudo-threat, half motivational speech. "Tennessee, I would never let her break." He must've said the right thing, because Tennessee clapped him hard on the shoulder in response and with a smile ducked into his tent for the night leaving Walter with his thoughts. 

* * *

...Looking at Daniels now, Walter's respiration begins to normalize, as a sense of calm replaces the humming, frenetic panic he felt only moments before.  _I could never let her break._ As though the power of his thought called out to her, she looks up, making eye contact with him across the campfire. The corners of his lips lift in a small smile and gives her a nod that says, _Tennessee is okay_. Daniels breathes a small relieved sigh that turns into a yawn. _It's been a long day_ , he thinks, watching her wish goodnight to the few other colonists that were still awake and walk over to where he is.

Her steps are confident and her gaze unwavering as she approaches him. He takes these brief seconds to contemplate what he knows about her. She is the strongest human he has ever known, resourceful and as tough as she is kind. She carries herself with an outside aspect of steel, but he has come to know that her iron is tempered with an incredible softness and vulnerability reserved for those closest to her. 

When he was first brought online, hers was the first face he ever saw. Her eyes held nothing then but a mixture of curiosity and excitement at their first meeting. Since then he has seen her lovely, expressive face hold a multitude of emotions; from joy to grief, stony resolution to utter defeat and every shade in-between.

The expression she holds on her face now, is one he is growing more familiar with with each passing day; it falls somewhere between contentment and passion, having all the qualities of possessiveness but without the sharp edges. This expression causes a flutter in his system as he recognizes the intent.

Daniels only stops when she is close enough that he can count her lashes. He feels the urge to speak, to say something, but also does not want to break this silence, feeling as though something larger is happening between them, so he stays still and quiet before her, choosing to bask in the energy she brings with her. She smiles beatifically at him, reaching out with her hand and sweeps his hair off his forehead. The action causes his eyes to flutter, closing reactively and when he opens them again, she has taken his hand in hers leading him away from the fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wonder where they could be heading...


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains explicit content. ;)

* * *

Daniels doesn't lead Walter back to her tent. Instead, with her heart pounding in her ears, and her mouth going dry, she finds her feet carrying them to the supply tent from earlier in the day. She's not sure why she lead him back here, and when she turns around to look at his face, after having placed her light on a crate, she can see Walter is just as perplexed.

Now here they stand once again, facing each other in the dim light, in a silence just as tense as earlier, but for completely different reasons.

Today has been a wild ride for Daniels, many things have happened since she woke up. Of all the possible scenarios she thought this day would end in, standing in an empty tent in the middle of the night, across from an android with whom she has recently confessed having feelings for...is not where she thought this morning would lead. Yet, here she is, and she is quickly discovering that, under Walter's scrutiny, she doesn't know quite what to do with her hands.

As if on cue, she sees his hands envelop her nervously fidgeting ones, and looks up startled, not knowing exactly when he had closed the distance between them. 

"I am sorry. I did not mean to scare you." He says, but before he can remove his hands, she turns her palms up and closes her fingers around his.

"It's okay. You didn't scare me, not the way you think...you just startled me." She laughs lightly, and the sound is most welcome to Walter's ears. "You move so quietly." 

Back to silence, Walter's hands in hers, Dani lets her fingers begin to dance along the palms of his. Walter is still, content to just watch her face as Daniels' hands move up his wrists, to his arms around his shoulders and down to rest atop the center of his chest. Walter let's his hands fall to her sides.

"I'm not sure what I'm doing." Dani confesses, "I mean...I know what I'm doing, it's just been a while," a flushed look creeps across her face as she pauses, "and you make me nervous."

 _…DATABASE QUERY:_ nervous…  
_1: easily agitated or alarmed; tending to be anxious; highly strung._  
_2: anxious or apprehensive._  
_…CONTEXTUALIZE: with_ intimacy _: worry_ , _fear_ , _trepidation, excited_ , _timid, shy_...  
VALUE DATA: _non-definite._

"Walter." Daniels' voice interrupts his query. "Where did you go just now?" 

"I was trying to understand how you are nervous, but the term is too ambiguous in this context." Dani notices him swallow before continuing, "This is all new to me. I am also unsure how to proceed." Bringing his hands up to cradle her face in his palms, the tips of his fingers card into the hair at the base of her skull as he asks, "Do I frighten you, Daniels?"  _I do not wish to frighten you._

This last question is both surprising and not surprising to Dani. His concern is touching. Her lips part slightly to answer, but she is unsure what to say...

"Yes." Her mouth speaks even as she thinks the opposite. The effect of her answer is immediate, she can feel Walter draw in a quick breath and begin to pull his hands away from her face, apologies spilling from his lips. "Wait! Wait--Walter..." She steps forward and places her hands on his wrists, holding them in place, "That's not what I meant.

"I just, need a minute...to think. Please don't pull away." Taking a breath, Daniels' thumbs begin to draw circles on the back of Walter's hands. With the only source of light coming from Daniels' flashlight, Walter's eyes are dark and extraordinarily blue. Dani can feel her heart beating in her chest. "We're dancing around the elephant in the room here, I think, Walter."

Familiar with the abstract nature of the phrase, Walter nods his understanding, "David." At the utterance of that name, Walter can feel the muscles in Daniels' jaw clench, and a brief hardness shutters across her eyes. "I would like to touch you, Daniels. But I do not know how to in a manner that won't remind you of all that he has done. You share the same desires and concerns." He shifts his right hand up to move a piece of hair behind her ear, as she nods in affirmation. "So, I will not touch you."

He takes a small step away from her, but before the feeling of rejection can entirely consume Dani, Walter removes his outer layer and shirt, letting them fall to the floor. The silent invitation for her to take the lead apparent. This action causes Dani to feel impossibly more vulnerable than before, even though she is the one who is fully clothed and now in the position of power between them.

She feels a fierce blush effusing her cheeks and neck, working its way down her chest, as she lets her eyes devour Walter's exposed form. _Fuck_. He was beautiful, pale skin with a dusting of hair in the center of his chest. Unable to escape drawing a comparison, since the last person she ever saw in such an intimate way was Jacob, years ago, she notes the physical differences between them, without lingering. Where Jacob was sinewy and long, Walter is thick, muscled, but nothing grotesque or bulging. The difference between a swimmer's body and a brawler's. Walter's broad shoulders and arms hang comfortably by his side under her perusal.

Daniels removes her own outer layer, and she carefully watches his face as his eyes follow her movements, trying to understand the affect she is having on him. Jacket removed, she steps forward, and takes Walter up on his offer, exploring his chest, his arms, neck and hands with a feather light touch that sends quick signals that seem to zap through Walter's sensors like lightning. 

As her hands move back up to his face, her eyes settle on a divot in his flesh, right above his lip on the right side, her brow furrows as she takes in the artificial scar, a purposeful physical flaw, one he shared with David. Her fingers linger there as the air in the tent shifts to something heavy.

Dani opens her mouth as though she were going to speak, whether it was because the scar reminded her of David or whether or not she was going to simply inquire about its origin, Walter feels an imperative prompting to prevent the conversation from heading that direction. Before she can utter a single sentence, he turns his face into her fingers and presses his lips to them gently, eyes not looking anywhere but straight into hers.

This causes Dani to gasp, and Walter can sense an elevation in her heart rate from where her fingers are now pressed to his lips. Her pupils are wide as she meets his gaze. Her other hand is pressed against his chest and she can feel the in and out of his own measured but quickened breaths.  

"You're breathing heavier." Dani says, surprise coloring her voice, "When I...kissed you earlier today," a coy shyness lights in her eyes at the memory, "the same thing happened."

"It is a non-conscious, involuntary function." Walter breathes out quietly, eyes riveted on her face.

"It's very human."

"It's purpose is to cool my processors." He pauses as Daniels runs her fingers across his lips, "Your touch takes a lot of attention." He admits with a quirk of his lips.

"Oh really?" Dani shoots back, with humor in her voice. "May I kiss you again, Walter, or will you blow a fuse?" A full smile on the lips of the woman in front of him, and Walter feels...he feels something strong at the expression. Directed at him. Just for him. Because of him. A sensation he would describe as elation has him smiling at her in return. She has moved as close as she could possibly get to him now, bringing her hand up to the back of his neck, allowing her nails to lightly scratch the skin there.

"If you break it, you buy it." Walter responds, and Dani laughs. With her body now pressed to his, he can feel her laughter through her chest, sending vibrations through his. A beyond gratifying sensation, Walter would like nothing more than to wrap his arms around her still laughing form and drag her mouth to his, just so he can know what her laughter tastes like. But, he stays still.

He doesn't have to wait long before her lips press against his in a kiss. As before, Walter let's her control the pressure, speed and angle of the kiss, the whole time his programming takes note of her preferences; which side she prefers to tilt her head to deepen the kiss, which of his lips she seems to most desire to capture between hers, where her hands tend to roam on his body. He is perfectly happy to let her have control, but with each passing beat, his desire to hold her becomes harder to bypass.

Remembering the sound she made when he brought her body flush to his when they last kissed, Walter makes his hands into fists, so he won't act on the impulse against his promise to not touch her. He breathes in deeply against her lips to steady his mind.

Then, she breaks the kiss, but not leaving his lips she speaks, "Walter, please touch me." Sliding her hands down to his, she smoothes his fists out and brings them up to her body, under her shirt. "You can touch me." The low desperate rasp of her voice like an offering to his ears. "Please." 

He doesn't need to be told twice. Leaving his left hand at her side, Walter drags his right up her body, fingertips taking in the smooth expanse of her skin, past her ribs. Pulling his lips from hers, breathing raggedly, Walter watches Daniels' eyes flutter shut as he palms her breast, and it's like a switch flips in her.

Pushing away from him, Daniels hastily removes her shirt and bra, leaving her as topless as Walter, and before he can take in the sight, she is back up against him. Lips clashing with his, her soft sighs replaced with greedy moans.

It's all a little too much for Walter suddenly, the full press of her naked skin to his takes much more to process than the delicate touch of her exploring hands. With each noise she makes in the back of her throat, Walter tries to memorize which actions prompted them, but can't seem to keep up.

He pulls his lips away, burying his face at her neck. His left arm is banded around her back, his right running up and down her right side. He is in a tailspin. He is so wrapped up in the kinetic experience of this moment that his thought processes and subroutines are just a buzz, no real thoughts can pass through them. Lifting his face back to hers, he kisses her gently, testing to see if she will relinquish control of the kiss to him. With a hum, she does.

Walter explores her mouth with his lips and tongue, slowing the kiss. Walter finds himself at a crossroads now, unsure where to move from here. They are still standing in the middle of the tent, Walter knows that to move forward traditionally entails shifting to a reclined position, but that's all a little complicated now. To maintain control would risk the resurgence of memories Dani wishes to avoid, especially in this context, and to relinquish control would be a similar risk to bring back memories of the last time he was beneath her...

His thoughts are interrupted as Daniels moans his name with desperation, her mouth open under his. Walter swallows the sound greedily, closing his lips around hers, reveling in the reverberation of his name through her body. There's a brief moment here where Walter thinks he should feel some concern for the intensity of his thoughts, but simply cannot be bothered as Daniels' body bows under his touch. 

“Tell me what you need.” Walter speaks with an intense sincerity. Daniels doesn’t know how to begin to address the request, her tongue feels locked in her mouth and her thoughts are twisted up, victim to the anticipation. “ _Show_ me what you need.”

That, she could do. 

Taking his right hand in hers, she pushes it down her chest and stomach past the waistband of her pants to her sex. At first she guides his hand in a dance of pressure and rhythm, showing him exactly what she needs. Her pupils are so wide in her dark eyes, they look black, her lips are swollen and red and he sees just how far her blush goes.

"You are beautiful." Walter says, speaking the truth. Her body undulating under his ministrations. "So beautiful." Leaning his head down to her chest, he takes her nipple into his mouth, as he increases the speed and pressure of his hand on her, focusing all his attention on her clit. Her hands tighten on his shoulders and she cries out as he smooths his tongue over the taut flesh.

"Walter. Please. Please--" He knows what she is trying to say, despite this being his first time.

"I have you." He kisses her mouth deeply, one more time and pulls back to look her in the eyes, "Let go, Daniels."

And she does. A lightness and euphoria spreads through her body as one final desperate keening sound escapes her throat. She can feel Walter kiss her through it, her upper lip caught between his, his breath puffing against her face. 

Coming back around to her senses is no small task, but when she does, her breathing still heavy, she notices that in the aftermath, Walter must have lowered them to the ground, since she is in his lap as he sits cross-legged.

Feeling something on her arm, she looks down and takes hold of her offered shirt, slipping it over her head, and breathing. just breathing, Dani looks at Walter with a contented smile. He is looking at her with an indiscernible look on his face. There is still tension in his body, and he looks expectant, but not in a way that most men would look when assuming it was their turn next. 

"I am unsure how to ask in a way that won't seem presumptuous, but did I do alright?"

For the second time that night, she laughs. Bringing her hands up to hold his dear face as reassuringly as possible she moves to her knees, and presses a kiss to his forehead. "Yes, Walter, yes. Holy shit."

Daniels helps him get dressed and only moves from his lap once they have kissed for a few minutes more. Walter isn't sure what tomorrow will bring for either of them, but tonight he was able to make her forget, tonight he had made her happy and as they make their way back to her tent, so that she can presumably get some rest before tomorrow, he is content to have provided that for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that was all to your satisfaction. 
> 
> Here is a brief list of a couple of things unanswered:
> 
> What are Weyland-Yutani's interests in the colony?  
> What Did David Do to Daniels?  
> Is David gone, how did they defeat him?  
> Will Daniels and Walter build that log cabin?
> 
> This is an unfinished work. Life happened to me and I have been experiencing extreme episodes of mania and depression. I have intentions to finish this fic one day, but I can't give it the love it deserves right now. 
> 
> Thank you for your understanding.


End file.
